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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Another fun day, totally sidewinded from what I should have been doing (a couple of projects for upcoming DT post) and ended up making a tag for a tag swap and a card for my daughter.

To begin with I cut my card blank and covered it with a design paper I have had for years, I think it came in a multi surprise pack I bought about six years ago. Next I took some woven stuff I had and cut it into three strips, trimmed the edges then overlaid this on top of the covered card blank with adhesive spray.

While this was drying I printed out the digi which I had placed on a brown background digitally and a heart shape with text which will become my topper. The digi is UNICORN DREAMS �Karen Middleton, isn't it just fabulous, so full of movement. I knew this digi was going to be a challenge, trying to keep all that movement alive but worth a shot. My daughter loves horses and got her first horse a few months ago (after having waited 32 years lol) and this card is for her.

Out with my beloved Promarkers again. Now I now one usually thinks of unicorns as white but I have decided to try to make a chestnut unicorn instead. I felt like working in browns today hahahaha.

To finish off the digi I used clear embossing powder on the butterfly, leaves and wee flowers.

I wanted to add a charm to the card so found a silver heart I had and, with my gold Promarker, coloured it to match the card. I also printed out a mount for the digi to be placed on with the text 'magical, fantasy, beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. With my dreadful spelling I had to double check if beholder was correct and found out by fluke it was also the name of the horse that was the winner of the 2013 Breeders' Cup Distaff - how cool is that!!!! Next I cut some of the same paper I had used for the mount with the sentiment and covered it with brown lace to create another mount. I also had a bit of ribbon cut but forgot to put that in front of the camera when I snapped this pic.

Now time to assemble my card and here we have the finished creation :)

Sketch N Stash - 2W, use new or neglected items - (Week 2) Sketch* - my neglected items are the dp which I have had for about 7 years and the mesh which was just opened for this and I have had for a couple of years <g>

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Just a very quick post here as I seem to have been well sidetracked this evening <g>. I won this fabulous digi Lily of the Valley by Rachel Anderson last week have have been longing for the opportunity to use it so this afternoon I gave myself some 'me time' to create a card with it.

First I created the graduated background and placed the digi on top.

When I planned the card I wanted to use green lace which I was sure I had in my stash. Alas, after hunting and finding red, blue, purple, brown, black and white but no green I had to get creative. Backup plan was to cover my white card blank with green embossed paper and then overlay white lace coloured with my precious Promarkers to get the effect I wanted <g> The lace was then sprayed with adhesive spray and placed on the prepared card blank.

While this was drying I set to work on colouring the digi. As you can see, I seemed to have used a multitude of colours <g>

I finished of the digi with Lilac Liquid Pearls on the hair and wings and Ice Stickles for over the dew drops for a bit of shimmer. Next was to create some embellishments and a tag for the card. I deliberately used a dark green card which would not be to noticeable against the background as I don't like cluttered cards but do like to see lots going on <g> I used one of the snowflakes from Impression Obsession Snowflakes and embellished them with more Lilac Liquid Pearls. The tag is from X-Cut tags.

Now to assemble my card. I made the bow, and placed the snowflake dies where I wanted them. Next I mounted the digi on dark green card and attached this to the card blank with foam tape for added dimension. The tag was attached with foam tape too. To finish off I place a small mauve purple heart gem in the centre of the bow. Here we have the finished card.

OOOOO exciting stuff, I love a Tic Tac Toe challenge, not just thinking how to use a digi in a creation but also to incorporate the other elements :) Here is the Tic Tac Toe grid which you need to follow to enter the IKE'sWORLD challenge this week.

The line I am following is:- Stitching Faux or Real, Lace and Brads

I was in IKEA the other day and had, what might be a bright idea or maybe not, but certainly worth a try. A clock was on the agenda but it had to be one that the hands were not to close to the surface of the clock face so I could decorate it. Brilliant, they had the perfect clock for what I wanted. For the project I first removed the hands -

Don't you just love it when what might be a problem turns out to be easy peasy. I needed to work within the inner circle of this clock and thankfully one of the Spellbinder Grand Circles was just the same size saving me a lot of messing about. First I coloured the digi digitally to look like a particular cat I know as this clock is for a very special person (I know you will know who you are when you see this - just sorry it won't be a surprise <g>). Here is a photo of Leo, the cat I used to guide me in the colouring.

It is not often I have my wee camera with me when creating, often not much point as I get so carried away I forget to take the pics. Today I made a mega effort to show you the process of this creation. I printed the text I wanted and placed the coloured digi on the white card and used the die to cut this circle, an acetate circle and the lace circle. So here we are with the circles cut out, the lace one was also cut with the die (not easy but I used sellotape all over one side to stop it moving and stretching in the die and it worked). I also cut a second copy of the coloured digi which I fussy cut and will be placed on top of the lace layer.

I arranged the layers temporarily as now was the time for any corrections if sizing etc. were wrong.

All looking good so next was to colour the fish. I used Promarkes first then added some gold and silver guilding. The next layer on was the acetate and to hold that in place I added some brads my sister had given me a while back which are pussy cat related. They are not showing up very well but three are shaped like fish showing their bones, another says 'treats' and the last one says 'furry friends'.

The topper was trimmed and attached to the centre of the clock with double sided tape. Using my black Promarker I created Faux stitching in the groove just beyond the inner circle. Once everything was completed I put the hands back and here we have the finished clock :) :) :)

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Hello folks. We have another challenge at One Stitch At A Time so how about popping over to see all the fabulous creations by the design team.

Challenge #201

Theme 'Girly'

Our sponsor this week is Creative Craft World with a prize of 3 Promarkers. To win this prize you MUST use a digi from the StitchyBear Digital Outlet. A second prize of $3 to spend in the StitchyBear Digital Outlet will be given to an entrant who does not use a SB product.

This week I had the opportunity of choosing a digi from our one and only Stitchy of Stitchy Stamps. With this being a love challenge it had to be Mandolin. Our theme is Girly and what immediately comes to mind is a card for a little girl. I did one of those last week and was not in my comfort zone and although I need more practice in them, two weeks running was a bit to much for my brain to handle. So my interpretation of 'girly' is something a bloke won't want to receive <g>. I rather fancied something different this time and ended up designing a lattice die cut card front with lattice on one side the area where the digi would be placed left alone. To this I then created a shape which would follow the shape of the digi and the edge of the lattice design. Next to cut it out and see what it looked like. yes, pleased with that. Next I embossed the cut out fronw with a music embossing folder to tie in with the digi and the sentiment I planned to use. I raided my magazines for some dp, not something I do often lol and found what I thought would be perfect for the colours I wanted to use. Next I printed the digi and coloured with Promarkers then mounted on black card to pick out the black from the dp. The digi was mounted with foam tape for added dimension. For the sentiment layer I used acetate which was attached behind the front of the card and cut to the same size and the card size, giving the impression of a shape card but allowing me to position the text in a way it could be seen but not be the main focal point. Next flowers - I am not very good at making flowers but today I was going to try and conquer this. A die I have had by Marianne Design -craftables-flower set seemed to be the one to try. I must say, I am really pleased with the outcome. Some time ago I picked up a few flower stamens, they have lived in a drawer for ages but today they saw daylight and worked so well with the die. Another Marianne die was used called Lavender which I cut in black three times and placed behind the flowers I made. To finish off I added some shiny black gems to the floral section and Stickles to the bracelet and mandolin and flower head piece :)

Close-up of the sentiment. I chose not to have the sentiment jump out at you as I really wanted the digi and the flowers to be the main focal point. By printing the sentiment on acetate you have a ghosting effect on the card which I love. Here I have put some white card behind it so you can see what is written easily.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Hello folks, hope you are having a good day :) I have been having more fun in my craft room and getting mucky hahahaha Last night I chose four challenges to follow as a starting point for today's project. I did this earlier in the week and has such a blast I thought I would do it again. It is a bit like doing a tic tac toe challenge which I love. This time I chose a sketch from the I Love Promarkers challenge, a colour scheme from the Colour Throwdown challenge, a themes from Crafter's Cafe (vintage/shabby chic) and Ruby's Rainbow (texture).

To begin with I stamped and embossed some navy paper. Gosh, I can't remember the last time I played with rubber stamps, certainly has been a long time. I use a stamp from the 'See D's range and Heat it up Silver Pearl embossing powder to add texture to the background paper.

Next I designed digitally the background for the circle I planned to place the digi on then added the digi. Once printed I coloured the digi with Promarkers and cut out the circle with Spellbinders Grand Circles.

Here is the completed coloured digi.

In keeping with a vintage feel I cut a circle of white lace and as the colour challenge wanted vanilla in their scheme I coloured the edges of the lace which would be visible with my Promarker.

Next, using Olive Green and Vanilla I coloured two pearl brads, four pearls and two strands of pearls.

With all my components ready it was time to assemble.

The pearl bead strands were attached to the backing paper then the centre topper made by layering the digi section on top of the lace. The brads and pearls were added to the topper which was then attached to the card with foam tape.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Entry into the Sweet Pea Stampers DT Call (I did make and post this card yesterday so hope it is OK to enter into your DT call)

Now this has been a nice morning. I don't seem to have had much time recently to make something just for the reason for doing so, yep we all know how work and life gets in the way of 'me time' :) :) :)

Last night I had a look at four different challenges and decided to create a card following their themes for this week. First I chose a sketch challenge, then a colour challenge, next a vintage challenge and finally a stitching challenge. Vintage has always been a challenge unto itself for me, I am still not sure what it really means as Victorian always comes to mind but nothing I create looks in the least Victorian lol.

Sketch followed

Colour scheme followed

To begin with I created the design paper using two of the colours from the colour challenge keeping in mind the theme of the SIR challenge (vintage) so opted for a scroll Baroque style.

Next I masked off the digi and air brushed the white area to the right Promarker Rock Pool then I coloured the digi with Promarkers plus ones to shade with and greys using the colours from the colour challenge plus ones to shade with and greys. I used Stickle and Platimum Liquid Pears to finish of the digi and add a bit of bling - should have taken a pic of the digi here -oops, here is a close up of the cropped coloured digi instead.

The digi, once coloured was cut out with X-Cut Scalloped die and then mounted on silver card also cut with X-Cut Scalloped die.

Next I coloured some lace with Antique Pink Promarkers and attached to the card with stitching. I used cross stitch to represent kisses on the first piece of lace and a regular back stitch for the second piece of lace using silver stranded cotton.

A simple sentiment in a heart shape was created next. This was cut out and mounted on the same silver card used for the digi.

While the Stickles etc. were drying I headed off out for lunch with a friend :) :) :) who rummaged around in her bag and produced some lovely glass flowers with other bits tied together with a a bow she had salvaged from a box of chocolates. My eyes lit up, I love things like this and immediately had a use for the glass flowers, just perfect for this card. With so much going on in the card the glass flowers added dimension without giving the appearance of clutter. I had to eat my lunch super fast so I could come home and see if the glass flowers would work how I imagined they would.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Hello folks. We have another challenge at One Stitch At A Time so how about popping over to see all the fabulous creations by the design team.

Challenge #200

Theme 'Use A Digi'

The sponsor is StitchyBear Digital Outlet with a 7 image pack of digis. To win main prize you MUST use an Image from our store. Runner up prize for person using none store image is $3 to spend in the StitchyBear Digital Outlet. So everyone can win something ;O).

For this weeks design I worked with the image chosen by my teamie Pam, 'Anna Mae Party Bunny Girl' by Stitchy Stamps. Oh dear, out of my comfort zone again with a 'kiddy' card lol. What a lot of thought of what I could do, a few days of nudging my brain to come up with something. In the end I designed a flower background cutting file to make my own background and mounted this on turquoise card. Next I printed the digi twice and coloured one fully it in pastel colours, something I though a wee girl would like and the second only the overhanging bits were coloured as I planned to cut what was needed out. I also added the sentiment before printing based on the the digi I chose to use having bunny ears. The digi was cut out using my Spellbinders Grand Circles and attached to the flower die cut topper. Next I added small gems to the centre of each die cutout flower to match the dress and the hair. To finish off I used yellow ribbon around the edge of the card, pink material roses from my stash and a big yellow bow. Now if I am honest, and this is the second attempt at this card, do I like it? No I don't, just not my cup of tea but as the old saying goes, practice make perfect and I need more practice <g>.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

We are onto the second week of our challenge so there is still plenty of time for you to enter and win the fabulous prize of $15 to spend in the IKEsWORLD store. To win the prize or be voted in the top 3 you MUST use and IKEsWORLD digi, lots to choose from so why not pop on over to the shop and have a look around.

Oh I just love these digs, there is something about colouring the female form :) :) This digi is called Lust 1. For this weeks DT creation I have to admit my head went into a strange mode and I came up with an idea but did ask Ike first if I could go ahead with it. Please don't be offended - but if you are blame Ike for saying yes hahahahahaha. Most folks make Valentine's cards for Valentine's Day but I made so many last year I really did not feel like making another one. Plus, I had just finished my jar of coffee which was rather a nice shape and wanted to use it for a project. If you look closely you will see what I filled the jar with, not the usual chocolates!!!!!!!!!!!!

I coloured the digi and placed it on a gradient background before printing. The jar lid was covered in red paper which has a lovely embossed texture and the digi placed on top. Next I finished off the sides of the digi with a couple of gold line stickers and some black lace top and bottom. Got to have red and black at Valentine's :) :) :) :) The top of the lid also needed some attention so I cut out a scalloped circle which was red card on one side and the same red paper I covered the jar lid on the upper side. For a bit of bling I added a red foam heart and some black lace behind to help it stand up better!!!!!!!!!!

I was in a bit of a quandary with the sentiment, part of me wanted something raunchy but the sensible side of me was saying enough is enough. The sensible side won and I went with a simple sentiment (mainly in case some kids accidentally come across this blog post - better safe than sorry) - better safe than sorry - where have I heard that before, bit like put a sock on it hahahahahahaha First I printed the simple sentiment then used the Cherry Lyn Heart To Heart Doily die which is really beautiful, only the centre section to start with to cut it out. I then used the same die for the cut out heart surround, these I attached both hearts together with ribbon.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Hello folks. We have another challenge at One Stitch At A Time so how about popping over to see all the fabulous creations by the design team.

Challenge #199

Theme 'With Love'

Our sponsor this week Stitchy Bear with $9 to spend in the store. To win this prize you MUST use a digi from the StitchyBear Digital Outlet. A second prize of $3 to spend in the StitchyBear Digital Outlet will be given to an entrant who does not use a SB product.

This week I had the opportunity of choosing a digi from our fantastic Teri of Delicious Doodles. With this being a love challenge it had to be Valentina :) I first designed the heart toppers and text which was then sent to my die cutter for writing and then cutting. These I then add black lace backgrounds to and finish of with Promarker Metallic Gold around the edges and Liquid Pearls. Next I cut the heart dies out of the same card as the base layer using Cherry Lyn Heart to Heart Doily and attached these to the base layer. The digi was printed twice so I could fussy cut the female image out and overlay it onto the background giving a bit of depth to the card. Bothe the background and the female were coloured with Promarkers. Once completed I added black lace behind and finished off with black pearls and Liquid Pearls around the digi edge. A few days ago my sister mentioned she had not seen any of my quilling for ages <g> which reminded me I had a few embellishments I had made a while ago in a box. Yipee - there were hearts done so three of these were added to the card too. Finally, a few buttons finished with gold thread were added as a way to carry the gold colour from the digi to the card.

Close-up of the die cut hearts which were cut in the same card as the card base to give a textured effect and but not be immediately visible to the eye.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Hello folks. We have another challenge at One Stitch At A Time so how about popping over to see all the fabulous creations by the design team.

Challenge #198

Theme 'Anything Goes'

The sponsor is StitchyBear Digital Outlet with a complete set of digi images that the team used in challenge #196. To win main prize you MUST use an Image from our store. Runner up prize for person using none store image is $3 to spend in the StitchyBear Digital Outlet. So everyone can win something ;O).

For this weeks design I worked with the image chosen by my teamie Deborah, 'Boo Boo Bee' by Stitchy Stamps. Now what could I do with this, a get well card is the obvious but time to think outside the box I think. I am not really into 'cute' at the moment so I went with an 'off the wall' idea. With all the celebrations over Christmas and New Year I suspect the odd person or two had one to many of the tipsy bevies to drink and from there my idea was born. Poor Boo Boo Bee has obviously been in the wars, now we don't know why but maybe he was one of the ones who was a bit the worse for wear due to over celebrating lol. I am not really sure is 'getting plastered' is a universal term for being drunk or just a British one hahahaha but my Boo Boo Bee certainly got plastered!!!!!!!!!! After one to many he fell over and broke his arm, manged to get up but staggered into a lamp post breaking his finger and bumping his head. Seeing stars but not feeling much pain he pulled himself together and limped off, missed his footing falling off the walkway and ended up rolling down a hill into a rather large bush which thankfully stopped him going any further. Alas, when he emerged from his unconscious state he found he had broken another arm and accumulated several more cuts and bruises. With luck his mobile phone was working and he was able to phone for the ambulance which arrive, bundled him off to hospital where he was duly plastered again <g>. Talk about bad luck, as he was leaving the hospital he stood on a thumb tack which got stuck in his foot - well he should have been wearing shoes. SO all I can say is hoping Boo Boo Bee thought "getting plastered was worth it'!!!!!